single1 adjectivesingle2 nounsingle3 verb
singlesin‧gle1 /ˈsɪŋɡəl/ ●●● S1 W1 adjective 
WORD ORIGINsingle1
Origin:
1200-1300 Old French, Latin singulusEXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a single-lane bridge
- At my age it's difficult to meet single women.
- Carla wore a single strand of pearls around her neck.
- How does it feel to be single again?
- I'm a single mother, so I don't have much money.
- Jeff is 38 years old and still single.
- Many of the children at the school come from single parent families.
- Please fill in the section on the form that asks if you're single, married or divorced.
- The Cubs won the game by a single point.
- These trees can grow over a foot in a single summer.
- We hope to establish a single safety standard for all airlines.
- A single bug may catch ten or more termites in succession in this way.
- And some will just have a single mention of the term you are searching for.
- But Schweiker did not add a single delegate.
- Forbes wanted to simplify filing taxes by narrowing the current five rates to a single flat rate.
- However, the biggest single barrier remains the memory limitation inherent in chip storage.
- In 1990 the Gift Aid Scheme allows tax relief on single cash gifts to charities.
- The first four acts of Don Juan Tenorio take place in a single night.
- Top with a spoonful of Creme fraiche or single cream and some whole mint leaves.
THESAURUS
having a husband or wife: · How long have you been married?· a married couple
not married: · Chris is 45 and still single.· single mothers
having formally agreed to marry someone in the future: · Jane and Pete have just got engaged.· engaged couples
to share a home and have a sexual relationship, but not be married: · More and more couples are choosing to live together rather than get married.
no longer living with your husband or wife because of problems in your marriage: · I think Joan and Brian are separated now.
no longer married because you have legally ended your marriage: · My parents got divorced when I was 10.· divorced men
no longer married because your husband or wife has died: · He’s a widowed father of two.
Longman Language Activatornot married · He told her he wasn't married, but he was lying.· Jeff and Paula have two children, but they're not actually married.
someone who is single is not married or is not in a permanent romantic relationship with anyone: · Please fill in the section on the form that asks if you're single, married or divorced.· At my age it's difficult to meet single women.single parent: · Many of the children at the school come from single parent families.single mother: · I'm a single mother, so I don't have much money.
an unmarried person is someone who has never been married: · Mrs Travis has three unmarried sons.unmarried mother: · Unmarried mothers can usually receive help from the State or Federal governments.
a man who has never been married: · Ben was the only bachelor among all the married couples and felt quite out of place.somebody's bachelor days: · Now that Derek's bachelor days were over he'd have to start behaving in a more responsible manner.bachelor flat: · His home had the look of a bachelor flat - clean but empty.
a word meaning a woman who has never married, especially a woman who is no longer young, which some people now think is offensive: · Both my father's sisters were spinsters.spinster aunt/sister/lady etc: · Sally lives with her mother and her spinster aunt.
rich, attractive, and not married, and therefore very desirable as a husband or wife: · His father had suggested several eligible middle class girls to him.eligible bachelor: · The world saw Jack as a rich eligible bachelor, but really he was very shy.
WORD SETSaccelerate, verbaerodynamic, adjectiveaerodynamics, nounairfreight, nounaisle, nounarr., baggage room, nounboard, verbboarding, nounBOL, booking office, nounbrake, nounbrake, verbbrake light, nounbrake shoe, nounbreakdown clause, bulk freight, C&F, cable car, nouncable railway, nouncargo, nouncarriage, nouncarrier, nouncart, nounCFR, change, verbchange, nounchassis, nounchopper, nounCMR, compartment, nounconcourse, nounconductor, nouncongested, adjectiveconnect, verbconnection, nounconsolidator, nouncontainer, nounconveyance, nounconvoy, nouncouple, verbcoupling, nouncourier, nouncourier, verbcrash, verbcrash, nouncrew, nouncrewman, nouncruise, verbcutting, noundead reckoning, noundelivery date, departure, noundestination, noundispatch rider, noundistribution channel, diverge, verbdouble-book, verbdrop-off, noundrop-shipping, nounelevated railway, nounengine, nounengineer, nounETA, nounfare, nounfeeder, nounfirst class, nounfirst-class, adjectivefloating insurance, flow, verbFOB, FOB airport, fogbound, adjectiveFOR, fork, nounfork, verbfree of particular average, adjectivefreighter, noungangway, noungross weight, Gro t, gyroscope, nounHague Rules, nounhelmet, nounhigh-speed, adjectivehijack, verbhijack, nounhitch, verbhub airport, ICAO, intercity, adjectiveinternational airport, interstate, adjectivekph, LGV, line, nounloading, nounluge, nounluggage, nounluggage rack, nounmachine, nounmarine insurance, mileage, nounmilepost, nounmotion sickness, nounmph, mudflap, nounnavigate, verbnavigation, nounnet weight, one-way, adjectiveopen insurance, outride, verbovertake, verbpackager, nounpannier, nounpart shipment, passenger, nounpayload, nounportage, nounporter, nounpropulsion, nounramp, nounreceiving office, red-eye, nounregional airport, re-route, verbreturn, nounreturn, adjectivereverse logistics, ride, verbroller, nounround-trip, nounround-trip, adjectiveroute, nounroute, verbrun, verbrun, nounschedule, nounsecond class, nounservice, nounship, verbshipload, nounshipment, nounshipper, nounshipping, nounshuttle, nounshuttle, verbsingle, adjectivesingle, nounski, nounskid, verbskid, nounstabilizer, nounstaging post, nounstall, verbsteering wheel, nounstopping distance, nounstowage, nounsubsonic, adjectivesupersonic, adjectivesurface transport, tailwind, nountanker, nounticket, nountime machine, nountimetable, nountourist class, nountowrope, nountrack, nountrack, verbtraffic, nountranscontinental, adjectivetransfer, verbtransfer, nountransit visa, nountransportation, nountransship, travel insurance, troop carrier, nountruckload, nountunnel, nountwo-seater, nountyre, noununderway, adjectiveU-turn, nounviaduct, nounwheel, nounwheel, verbwreck, nounyaw, verbyield, verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
a single-sex school (=one for only boys or girls)COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Their debut album was recorded in 1991. Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates
a single-sex school (=one for only boys or girls) (=for one person)· There was only a single bed.
(=with a bed for one person)· We have one single bedroom and two doubles.
(=with only one floor)
(=of CDs that have only one song on them)· The song reached number 9 in the singles charts.
(=in which you and one other person fight together)· The champion called out a challenge to single combat.
British English (=thin cream that you can pour easily)
(=to criticize one person, organization etc specifically)· The goalkeeper was singled out for criticism.
(=one currency for the countries in Europe)· Britain does not use the single currency.
Their debut album was recorded in 1991. (=having one clear aim and working very hard to achieve it)· Whatever task he undertook was tackled with single-minded determination.
· The medicine is given as a single dose.
Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. (=used to emphasize that you mean 'all') He seems to know every single person in the school.
He seems to know every single person in the school. (=one on its own)· All the men were killed, with the sole exception of Captain Jones.
· One in seven families is a one-parent family.
(=less than 10)· Women heads of department are in single figures.
(=for one car)· A single garage could boost the price of a house by 8%.
the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (=one person on their own)· Equipment of this kind is not something a single individual could afford.
· This is the largest amount ever paid for a single item of jewellery.
Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates (also a lone parent British English) (=someone who has their children living with them, but no partner)· My mum is a single parent.
(=be the one person who is praised)· His work was singled out for praise by the examiners.
(=a room in a hotel for one person or for two) I’d like to book a double room for two nights.
I’d like to book a double room for two nights. (=just one shot)· He died from a single shot to his heart.
(=lines with no empty lines between them)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN· Bedroom with two single beds which makes a double bed if required.· One of the important things to take into account when designing single bed Fair Isle patterns is the length of the floats.· To knit single bed tuck and slip stripes, the yarn goes in feeder 1 of the YC6 colour changer sinker plate.· Two bedrooms with twin single beds.· For both double and single bed welts I prefer to mattress stitch for a perfect finish.· I did quite a lot on that single bed machine, even intarsia and then I saw a double bed advertised for £15.· Are the bedrooms large enough to contain, say, two single beds?· I made his socks on my Singer KE2400 single bed machine which I have had for years.
· However, some yeasts can grow in both ways - either as hyphae or as single cells.· Similar studies in the past were based on single cell neuro-physiological data.· Even here there is debate about whether the activity of any single cell could be used to identify a particular face.· It was as if every single cell in my body sprouted wings and started flying about inside wildly.· They did come in, and it took seven of them to get me down to a single cell.· Every new organism begins as a single cell and grows anew.· The objects and phenomena that a physics book describes are simpler than a single cell in the body of its author.· The elephant not only has its beginning in a single cell, a fertilized egg.
· The other idea is that we should have a single currency.· Candidates for a single currency must limit their public deficits to 3 percent of gross domestic product by the end of 1997.· If we are to adopt a single currency, we must achieve the theoretical advantages which are there to be grasped.· Does that mean that every Opposition Member who supports the amendment tonight is fully in favour of a single currency?· If there were a single currency without convergence, it would have several serious effects on the smaller countries.· Whether there would continue to be a single currency was, however, unresolved.· Can a majority of public opinion be won over to vote for joining a single currency in just three or four years?· Stay outside the single currency, particularly if the euro keeps strengthening, and that importance diminishes.
· To illustrate, suppose that all dividend payments are concentrated on a single day in each quarter.· In a single day our raft covered ninety-nine miles.· On 26 February six of the bombers were destroyed and seven badly damaged in a single day.· It features 10 shower rooms, five single day rooms with showers and a double room with shower.· In a single day, 29 September, the recession claimed over 4,500 jobs.· It's doubtful she ever has taken a single day of unpaid leave during any of her innumerable campaigns for public office.· Fans should note that single day tickets do not include camping and car parking.· In the eternal struggle against administrative incompetence, we need it every single day.
· They are not normally thought of as potassium nitrate molecules existing as single entities outside the solid lattice.· Furthermore, they would be viewed as a single entity from a collections point of view.· In the public mind they're a single entity.· Any combination of fixed and mobile telephony and data communications can operate as a single entity over the Ericsson Business Network.· Good design brings house and garden together as a single entity.· Medved muddies the waters by treating cinema, television and pop more or less as a single entity.
· Teams of horses in single file hauled trains of a dozen flat-topped wagons loaded with granite along these rails.· The jungle area we had to go into was so thick, the APCs could only travel single file.· Okay single file, we're coming to a wood.· The stairs are approached along a raised pavement so narrow the people must have walked along it in single file.· Men passed us, dark, bearded, stern, armed with sticks, walking swiftly in single file.· Then we are instructed to leave Damrosch Park single file.· A narrow spiral staircase leads up from chamber 2b to 2c; characters must ascend in single file.· Ambush patrols at night were always in single file, with no point or flank security.
· The directive is designed to ease labour market restrictions and strengthen the single market.· The single market and economic and monetary union will expose regions and firms to greater competition.· For one thing, as Ian Lang rightly observed yesterday, that is how single markets work.· This could distort competition and reduce support in the business community for the single market.· But he praised its role in running the single market.· One aspect of Britain's opting out of the social charter is that it must surely undermine the single market.· What training, in languages and other skills, do we need to be ready for the single market?
· She was a single parent and had a nine-year-old son, Darren, who was in a home for mentally handicapped children.· Now we had plumbing and electric lights and, more important, that vital device for a single parent, a telephone.· Liz, 36, was left the single parent of Amy, now five.· Examiner contributor Elva Yanez is a single parent living in Albany.· And benefit changes make it easier for more families - including single parents - to combine work and family responsibilities.· A single parent with two or three children in California would lose $ 1 in income.· Only about 2 % nationally of single parent families are thought to be headed by the father.· Priority for assistance will be given to senior citizens, disabled and single parent families.
· If a newspaper commissioned a political poll based on the opinion of a single person it would immediately become a laughing-stock.· Friedman argued that no single person, even a Nobel laureate, could make a pencil.· The figures are costed for a single person.· She has something that she brings the best out in every single person.· It produces five billion food packets every year; that's one for every single person on earth.· Almost at once he experienced what most religious innovators of his type suffered: not a single person joined his worldwide movement.· So the single person now receives the same tax relief on a £30,000 mortgage as a couple.
· His own family-seven strong-live in a single room in the house.· Additional night, single room and upgrade prices are available.· Supplements per person per night: No single room supp.· The five-person group shared a single room, with a small anteroom to the side.· If no roommate is found, the line assigns a single room for the price of a shared room.?· Larger rooms sleep 3 people comfortably and there are also some single rooms available.
· Williams said that he glanced away and suddenly heard several single shots.· Ruestman died from a single shot to his heart after answering a knock at the front door of his mobile home.· It has been used twice before to kill, and each time a single shot was fired.· The whole woman of reproductive age produces an ovum a month, representing a single shot at a pregnancy every twenty-eight days.· The latter was essential as the police only fired single shots.· From the hut behind them they had heard a single shot.· For scripting movies, there is a standard format in which each line represents a single shot.· Resolve damage at strength 5 for single shots, 4 for multiple shots.
· The line was seven miles long, single track, and of standard gauge.· It was only a single track and had a gradient of 1 in 50 or worse for several miles.· We paddled under a single track embankment linking North Uist with Benbecula, exchanging waves with the friendly local driving overhead.· It was nine miles of single track with five intermediate stations.· For the time being, this single track was to be used as a terminus for the service.· The line could also be built in three segments and partially single track, reducing the finance required.
· Women had the vote, and education and employment opportunities had increased significantly for single women.· The city was rife with forlorn single women, and there was plenty of blame to go around.· Just think what would happen if every single woman went on strike, refused to do housework.· Twenty percent of single women and 18 percent of women who are now separated or divorced answered yes.· As a single woman officer the crunch would come if she wished to marry some one who was not also an officer.· Also patron of eloquence, maidens, philosophers, preachers, single women, and students.· Pregnant single women, for example, were often taken in until after the birth.· So do 84 per-cent of divorced and separated women, and 78 percent of single women.
· Stephen did not speak at all until he was seven and even now at 15 only answers questions with a single word.· Hyphens Hyphens, perhaps the most creative punctuation marks, join two or more words to create a single word.· Yet his serious manner at the very end of our conversation suggested he meant every single word he had just said.· Any small dictionary will provide an ample fund for single word technique.· His father had not spoken a single word to him, just followed him around the house, not a solitary word.· And then there was this shout, this single word, this name.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► single-sex school/college etc► the single market
- A single room supplement of £8 per person per night applies at hotels indicated.
- Additional night, single room and upgrade prices are available.
- His own family-seven strong-live in a single room in the house.
- Lounge / dining / kitchen areas with seating which converts to a double or two single beds are required.
- One of the important things to take into account when designing single bed Fair Isle patterns is the length of the floats.
- Supplements per person per night: No single room supplement.
- Supplements per person per night: No supplement in single rooms without private facilities.
- And the fabulous Brecon Beacons National Park flows past every single carriage window.
- Everyone in Calcutta knows that I am willing to take every single child.
- In the eternal struggle against administrative incompetence, we need it every single day.
- She was there every single night, a formidable figure in her long, black skirt, cardigan and black straw hat.
- The whole of that crab, every single pincer and leg, however long, had been excised with the knife.
- We want an accounting of every single dollar.
- When he came to reclaim them, every single one had been lost or sold.
- There was not a single person in sight.
- By the hunting season in the following year, not a single survivor of the last group could be found.
- I know of not a single surgeon who ever expressed any regret over these women or apologized to one of them.
- In this light, a novel is not a single discourse, but a complex of many discourses.
- Not one, my dear, not a single solitary one.
- Perhaps not a single transcript of his testimony goes unmarked by sarcasm, impatience, or outburst.
- The truth is that not a single one of the official groups organising protests is planning violent action.
- There's not a single burger on the menu.
- There was not a single light on in the house.
- Drug overdoses have become the single biggest killer among the city's young people.
- For the single greatest cultural movement of the twentieth century is the rise and global hegemony of black music.
- It represented the single biggest step towards the creation of the international air agreements of today.
- It was the single greatest revelation of his religious life.
- The survey showed that consumer concern about the economy was the single biggest factor affecting the building business in 1993.
- This is the single biggest thing we could do to reduce costs.
- The class walked in single file down the hall.
- The path was so narrow that we had to walk in single file.
WORD FAMILYnounsinglesinglessinglenessthe singularsingularityadjectivesinglesingularadverbsinglysingularly
1one [only before noun] only one: A single tree gave shade from the sun. They won the game by a single point. the highest price ever paid for a single work of art a single-sex school (=one for only boys or girls)2every single used to emphasize that you are talking about every person or thing: Don’t write down every single word I say. He works every single day.3not a single no people or things at all: The plane was brought down safely and not a single passenger was killed. We didn’t get a single reply to the advertisement.4the single biggest/greatest etc used to emphasize that you are talking about the one thing that is the biggest, greatest etc: Cigarette smoking is the single most important cause of lung cancer. Tourism is the country’s single biggest earner.5not married not married, or not involved in a romantic relationship with anyone: The changes in tax rates will benefit single people the most. Is he single?► see thesaurus at married6single bed/room etc a bed, room etc that is meant to be used by one person only: You have to pay extra for a single room. → double1(4)7ticket British English a single ticket etc is for a trip from one place to another but not back again SYN one-waysingle1 adjectivesingle2 nounsingle3 verb
singlesingle2 ●●○ noun [countable] EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Does anybody have five singles?
- the Top 40 singles chart
- In the men's singles, Hunter proceeded to the final without conceding a set and ended wildcard entry.
- Or how many divorced singles live there.
- She began playing tennis at age 4, and has 21 Grand Slams singles titles to her credit.
- The average cost of recording a pop single was in thousands rather than hundreds of pounds.
- The category of singles includes people in various stages of life.
- The possibility of commercial suicide aside, the single was to become the perfect deflecting plate for the new album.
WORD SETS
balk, verbball game, nounball park, nounballplayer, nounbase, nounbaseline, nounbat, verbbatter, nounblooper, nounbreak, nounbull pen, nounbunt, verbcatch, verbcatcher, nouncentre, noundesignated hitter, noundiamond, noundouble, noundouble, verbdouble-header, noundouble play, nounfastball, nounfirst base, nounfly, verbfly, nounfly ball, nounfoul, verbgrand slam, noungrounder, nounheavy hitter, nounhome base, nounhome plate, nounhomer, nounhome run, nouninfield, nouninning, nounmidfielder, nounmitt, nounmound, nounpark, nounpinch-hit, verbpitch, nounpitch, verbpitcher, nounpitchout, nounplate, nounpop fly, nounrebound, verbrebound, nounrun, nounshortstop, nounshut-out, nounsingle, nounslam dunk, nounslugger, nounspring training, nounsteal, verbstrikeout, nountriple, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY I prefer playing singles.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Their debut album was recorded in 1991. Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates
I prefer playing singles. (=for one person)· There was only a single bed.
(=with a bed for one person)· We have one single bedroom and two doubles.
(=with only one floor)
(=of CDs that have only one song on them)· The song reached number 9 in the singles charts.
(=in which you and one other person fight together)· The champion called out a challenge to single combat.
British English (=thin cream that you can pour easily)
(=to criticize one person, organization etc specifically)· The goalkeeper was singled out for criticism.
(=one currency for the countries in Europe)· Britain does not use the single currency.
Their debut album was recorded in 1991. (=having one clear aim and working very hard to achieve it)· Whatever task he undertook was tackled with single-minded determination.
· The medicine is given as a single dose.
Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. (=used to emphasize that you mean 'all') He seems to know every single person in the school.
He seems to know every single person in the school. (=one on its own)· All the men were killed, with the sole exception of Captain Jones.
· One in seven families is a one-parent family.
(=less than 10)· Women heads of department are in single figures.
(=for one car)· A single garage could boost the price of a house by 8%.
the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (=one person on their own)· Equipment of this kind is not something a single individual could afford.
· This is the largest amount ever paid for a single item of jewellery.
Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates (also a lone parent British English) (=someone who has their children living with them, but no partner)· My mum is a single parent.
(=be the one person who is praised)· His work was singled out for praise by the examiners.
(=a room in a hotel for one person or for two) I’d like to book a double room for two nights.
I’d like to book a double room for two nights. (=just one shot)· He died from a single shot to his heart.
(=lines with no empty lines between them)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· His album Stars was last year's best seller and spawned a string of hit singles.
· I suppose their new single will be the price of a double album!!
NOUN· It was a memorable weekend for Pierre, as his son Paul, won the singles championship just 24 hours later.· Mortimer Barrett captured three of the four Grand Slam singles championships.
· The singles chart needs to be treated as a separate entity, and not as a cheap promotions gimmick for greedy businessmen.· What do Feel think of the dance craze which is currently dominating the singles charts?
· Rita was on target to capture the singles title when a recurring leg injury regrettably ended her bid.· She began playing tennis at age 4, and has 21 Grand Slams singles titles to her credit.· Tilden won three Wimbledon singles titles.· He had three national singles titles.
VERB· My mind was the furthest away it could be to playing singles, so I pulled out of a couple of tournaments.· She will not, however, play singles in Atlanta.
· It means there are no plans to release any more singles from her current album Wishing.· I was frustrated because they wouldn't allow us to release more than two singles from it.
· He also won the Bangor Open singles this season, and deserves a lot of respect from the former champion.· Tilden won three Wimbledon singles titles.· Althea Gibson wins the women's singles title at Wimbledon in 1957.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► singlesPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► single-sex school/college etc► the single market
- a singles bar
- The show is especially popular among young singles.
- the women's singles championship
- The class walked in single file down the hall.
- The path was so narrow that we had to walk in single file.
WORD FAMILYnounsinglesinglessinglenessthe singularsingularityadjectivesinglesingularadverbsinglysingularly
1music a CD that has only one song on it, not a number of songs, or a song which is sold in this way: Have you heard their latest single?2sport a)one run2 in a game of cricket b)a hit that allows the person who is hitting the ball to reach first base in a game of baseball3tennis singles [uncountable] a game, especially in tennis, in which one person plays on their own against another person: I prefer playing singles. Who won the women’s singles? → doubles at double2(3)4not married singles [plural] people who are not married and are not involved in a romantic relationship with anyone: The show is especially popular among young singles. a singles night at the club5ticket British English a ticket for a trip from one place to another but not back again SYN one-way ticket American English: A single to Oxford, please.6money American English a piece of paper money worth one dollar: Anybody have five singles?7room a room in a hotel for just one person: I’m afraid we haven’t got any singles available.single1 adjectivesingle2 nounsingle3 verb
singlesingle3 verb VERB TABLE
single
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | single |
| he, she, it | singles | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | singled |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have singled |
| he, she, it | has singled | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had singled |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will single |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have singled |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am singling |
| he, she, it | is singling | |
| you, we, they | are singling | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was singling |
| you, we, they | were singling | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been singling |
| he, she, it | has been singling | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been singling |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be singling |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been singling |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Rodriguez singled to left field.
- By singling out the black population for a special history month makes all other races feel slighted.
- Frequently we abstract from this covenant by singling out the Ten Commandments and ignoring much of the remainder of the Mosaic code.
- He didn't single out anyone by name.
- I will single out two of them.
- In singling out gay men, the offence bears the hallmarks of homophobic prejudice, and belongs to the less tolerant era.
- The mobile phone is then instructed to single out and decipher only the conversation with the right code.
- They single out an old, young, or infirm animal and only then start the chase.
Longman Language Activatorto choose one person or thing from among a lot of similar things
to choose someone or something from among a group of similar people or things, especially in order to praise them or criticize them: single out somebody/something: · Could you single out one factor that is more important than the others?single somebody/something out: · His teacher was always singling him out, calling on him when his hand wasn't even raised.single somebody/something out for something: · Captain Withers was singled out for special mention and was awarded the Military Cross.
to consider a group of similar people or things and to choose the one that you like most: pick out somebody/something: · He looked through the tourist guide and picked out a few exhibitions to see while he was in town.pick somebody/something out: · The editor looked through the file, picking the best models out for the fashion shoot.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Their debut album was recorded in 1991. Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates
(=for one person)· There was only a single bed.
(=with a bed for one person)· We have one single bedroom and two doubles.
(=with only one floor)
(=of CDs that have only one song on them)· The song reached number 9 in the singles charts.
(=in which you and one other person fight together)· The champion called out a challenge to single combat.
British English (=thin cream that you can pour easily)
(=to criticize one person, organization etc specifically)· The goalkeeper was singled out for criticism.
(=one currency for the countries in Europe)· Britain does not use the single currency.
Their debut album was recorded in 1991. (=having one clear aim and working very hard to achieve it)· Whatever task he undertook was tackled with single-minded determination.
· The medicine is given as a single dose.
Good design brings a house and garden together as a single entity. (=used to emphasize that you mean 'all') He seems to know every single person in the school.
He seems to know every single person in the school. (=one on its own)· All the men were killed, with the sole exception of Captain Jones.
· One in seven families is a one-parent family.
(=less than 10)· Women heads of department are in single figures.
(=for one car)· A single garage could boost the price of a house by 8%.
the hit musical ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ (=one person on their own)· Equipment of this kind is not something a single individual could afford.
· This is the largest amount ever paid for a single item of jewellery.
Not a single person said thank you. single occupancy room rates (also a lone parent British English) (=someone who has their children living with them, but no partner)· My mum is a single parent.
(=be the one person who is praised)· His work was singled out for praise by the examiners.
(=a room in a hotel for one person or for two) I’d like to book a double room for two nights.
I’d like to book a double room for two nights. (=just one shot)· He died from a single shot to his heart.
(=lines with no empty lines between them)
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· No doubt there are many, but I would like to single out just three.· He didn't single out anyone by name.· Two forms of livestock in particular are worth singling out.· The mobile phone is then instructed to single out and decipher only the conversation with the right code.· It can single out for special treatment the special aggravating features of a crime.· By singling out the black population for a special history month makes all other races feel slighted.· They single out an old, young, or infirm animal and only then start the chase.· I single out Attitash only because I was there.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► single-sex school/college etc► the single market
single somebody/something ↔ out phrasal verb to choose one person or thing from among a group because they are better, worse, more important etc than the otherssingle out for- The class walked in single file down the hall.
- The path was so narrow that we had to walk in single file.
I don’t see why he should be singled out for special treatment.single out as One programme was singled out as being particularly good.